Event salutes veterans who serve community

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)

Published 7:00 pm, Friday, November 9, 2007

Some went on to civilian careers as educators. Others became active with a variety of civic and veterans' groups. One guided thousands of mothers through the rigors of childbirth and delivered their babies.

But all, according to Bob LeFebvre, chairman of the annual Veterans' Night program sponsored by the Exchange Club of Danbury, epitomized this year's theme of veterans who continued to serve their community after returning from military service.

The event was Thursday at Anthony's Lake Shore Club. Approximately 75 people attended.

"We wanted to honor all the men and women who continued their service," said LeFebvre, himself a military veteran and a retired teacher who has organized the program for years.

When the Exchange Club began sponsoring the event 32 years ago, it was intended to recognize the city's few remaining World War I servicemen. Since the last "Doughboy" died, it's taken on a different theme each year, he said.

Four branches of the military -- Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines -- are represented in this year's group of honorees, who span the years from World War II through the Cold War.

At 79, James Gaboardi of Danbury, who served in the Navy from March 1945 to August 1946, is the only World War II veteran honored.

Gaboardi was a 17-year-old junior at Danbury High School when he dropped out and convinced his father to sign his enlistment papers.

"At that time, a lot of guys in high school were talking about joining the service," he said.

After completing his training, Gaboardi was assigned to the flight deck crew on the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill, which was being repaired in Bremerton, Wash., after nearly being sunk in a kamikaze attack that killed more than 300 crew members.

But by the time the ship returned to the war zone, Japan had surrendered. It was converted to a troop transport, bringing soldiers back from the Pacific islands to the U.S.

After being discharged, Gaboardi returned to Danbury and tried to resume his education.

"I just couldn't stand being stuck in a room and studying after doing what we did," he said.

So he quit again and got a job in a store downtown before going to work in a hat factory.

When the hatting industry died, he went to work at the Danbury Post Office, where he spent nearly 35 years.

Gaboardi was able to resume one aspect of his pre-war life, rejoining the Danbury Drum Corps. He's been a member for 63 years, and although a heart attack in 1992 forced him to stop carrying a drum, he is still a member of the color guard, which is what he did before joining the Navy.

Former Marine Sgt. Ken Post, 74, served during the Korean War, spending time in both Korea and Japan. After the war ended, he was assigned to a unit that was returning captured enemy soldiers to China. During one such assignment, Post recalled, a landing craft loaded with Marines flipped over in heavy seas and 27 men drowned.

After his discharge in 1956, Post went to work for the telephone company and became active in the National Ski Patrol, earning a national award for promoting safe skiing.

For the past 10 years, he's served as chairman of the city's annual Memorial Day parade.

Marek served in the Marine Corps from 1983 to 1986 and is an active supporter of numerous Exchange Club programs, LeFebvre said.

Four honorees combined service in the military with careers as educators.

Eugene "Gus" Edwards, of New Fairfield, a member of Danbury High School's Sports Hall of Fame, spent 28 years in the Army Reserve, rising to the rank of colonel, and was a longtime football coach and guidance counselor at the school.

Hector Hernandez, an Air Force master sergeant who served from 1971 to 1995, and Lt. Col. Brian Holmes, an Air Force pilot between 1984 and 2005, both are involved in the Air Force ROTC program at Danbury High School.

And retired obstetrician Dr. Guido Gianfranceschi served in the Navy between 1948 and 1955. He was assigned to a mobile surgical unit during the Korean War and to Bethesda Naval Hospital after the war ended.

When he returned to Danbury, he delivered "thousands of babies into the world," LeFebvre said.